ALAIN SILBERSTEIN: the musings of a lifelong visionary

ALAIN SILBERSTEIN: the musings of a lifelong visionary

f the most expert Japanese
collectors or Singaporean aficionados
know of Besançon,
it’s without doubt the ‘fault’
of Alain Silberstein. And
yet the watchmaker and maverick is
far too independent to become the
spokesperson for a region in which
he shone but with which he has never
been naturally associated for his
own watchmaking work.

Alain Silberstein

Today, Alain Silberstein has put his
brand on hold, but in the eyes of any
watch connoisseur, he remains one of
the founders of the ‘new watchmaking’.
It’s a term that didn’t even exist in
1987 when he presented his works in
Basel for the first time. What a shock that was! An aesthetic
shock, with the appearance of a never-before-seen design
with thick, round watches, the use of primary colours – red,
blue, yellow – forbidden by all the other watchmakers, and
a technical shock, with the introduction of tourbillons that
at the time were reserved for a few hyper-traditional brands.
‘The watch-making architect’, as he describes himself, has
shaken up the sleepy world of watchmaking and opened
the way for all manner of experimentation, proving that it
is possible to adapt mechanical watches, which had become
technically obsolete, to cutting-edge modernity.
What does this visionary make of the current situation in
watchmaking, confronted with a crisis that seems to represent
a paradigm shift?

‘The Swiss made the mistake of trying to create global watches
that looked the same in every country, when they should
have prioritised a local approach, as I did at the time in Japan
where I had up to 22 boutiques. But having said that, there
will always be both mass-produced and artisanal products,
a little like with haute couture and with wine, as can be seen
with “garage wines”.

‘But the problem for independent watchmakers today
is that there aren’t any more independent distributors.
Watchmaking relied on independent retailers, partners
who physically knew their market. Today, for independent
designers, there are little more than a dozen representatives
who fit this description.

‘That said, I’m paying close attention to what’s happening with
crowdfunding. I find it much healthier
than working with financiers and
intermediaries. Crowdfunding establishes
a form of co-creation, a sharing
of ideas and dreams. The proof is in
the number of incredible new ideas
that are being born while everyone
else is obsessing over the crisis. The
desire to create watches is certainly
there, led by young people.

‘For me, another striking phenomenon
is the disappearance of the
notion of the brand in favour of the
notion of the product, of creating
capsule collections. We’re witnessing
a turbulent and fascinating time.
Several brands are yet to realise that
their clientele is ageing alongside
them. All the master plans have gone
out of the window. Amazon, for example,
is hurtling through the luxury
market, taking margins of 12%, which
risks rocking the boat in many areas.
It jeopardises the practice of multiplying
the margins by a factor of 7 or 8, as the major brands
still do. The notion of service is once again a priority, having
been largely neglected during the commercial madness of
the last few decades. And then in terms of style, what I find
most interesting is the sort of new classicism that’s made a
comeback, in the sense that the balance has been restored
between movement and style, which is a move away from
the terribly show-off period we’ve just been through. We
saw too many crazy products that didn’t work. Now, we’re
returning to true watchmaking values that welcome all sorts
of experiments in form, but do so with respect: respect for
the customer, for watchmaking values, and for service.’
When asked whether he intends to return to watchmaking,
he answers mysteriously, ‘I would like to attract the third
generation.’